


two cousins and a one sided conversation

by GenofBlazes



Category: Original Work
Genre: Cousins, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Self-Indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:28:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23140951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GenofBlazes/pseuds/GenofBlazes
Summary: What the title says.
Kudos: 3





	two cousins and a one sided conversation

**Author's Note:**

> Partially from a dream where I had some magic ability to glow/levitate/grow claws and fangs/absorb explosions–dreams are weird. Also some latino guy named Bruce recruits me to fight evil. I've read too many Batman fics
> 
> The rest is me venting my feelings.

The two cousins sat in their respective chairs a seat apart, both shared some minor cuts and bruises as they waited for their punishment for fighting monsters only people like Lani could see, and now her cousin too. The destruction of school property the monster caused didn't help. Lani was restless and kicking her feet back and forth while Lucas was still, breathing calmly with his eyes closed.

The silence was nagging at Lani, normally she would welcome a little peace, especially with the current life she led, but her explosive emotional breakdown at her cousin before all of this just.... wouldn't leave her alone. Most of the things she shouted she meant but there was one thing she said because of the stress of the situation that she never meant.

"Hey....Lucky?" She started hesitantly, earning a grunt of acknowledgement.

"I...um. I don't–" she wiped her eyes. Dammit, she hasn't even said anything and she was already getting all emotional.

"R-remember when we were like six or something and you'd pretend to run yourself into your door to make me laugh?" She blurts out. "A-and that time in– maybe first grade– you visited my school and tagged along with me and you were acting all overprotective just because of a boy classmate who wanted to talk to me? It was so annoying" she lets out a small chuckle in the end.

"And when we were twelve it was our last time sharing a bed together because we were getting to that age where we couldn't anymore and I invited Jossie and Rossie to sleep on the air mattress with us and you cried because you wanted to just spend time with only me and I was tired of just being around boys?" 

Lucas slightly opens one eye, glancing to the side at his cousin. But she doesn't see this, she's everywhere but him. 

Lani swallows, her throat feels contricted and uncomfortably hot like her negative feelings were strangling her.

"A-and what–and what I'm trying to say is–" she inhales sharply. Why is this so hard? "I don't–I-I don't hate you."

Lucas gives a slight hum at this, closing his eye again. But Lani isn't finished.

"I-I hate what we've become." She gasps out "I hate what our relationship is now. We're not like close siblings. We're not even friends. We don't talk. We don't–I don't know! We're practically strangers!" She voices louder at the end, earning a shush from a passing teacher.

"We were so close." she says above a whisper "And–and then I moved to a different country and we grew apart a-and maybe it shouldn't bother me as much as it does but. It. Does." 

"And when we went to visit you while you were visiting Tagaytay...I was so happy I was shaking. I finally got to see my favorite cousin after so many years." Her eyes harden "And then the elevator opened. I saw you and the way you looked at me with disinterest."

Lucas's lips twitched downwards into a small frown. His eyes remained closed.

"It hurt. You ignored me. You-I felt like you were embarrassed of me. Ashamed of me." She spat, but softens slightly "That was the moment I realized we weren't Lani and Lucky from before. This was just Lucas and the over the top girl cousin he didn't really know anymore. The one that was loud and you didn't want anything to do with."

"Which was somewhat reasonable. I'm a lot to handle. When you ignored me I tried to rile you up to get attention from you. And anger maybe. Especially when I visited a couple years later and showed everyone that baby picture of you in a dress." bitterness dripped from her tone. "You didn't rise up to it though. Just kept blissfully ignoring me and only talking to me when you need to."

"I don't hate you." She says, steadier than before. "I'll admit. I wanted to so so bad. But I can't" she shrugged "I love you too much. I get excited when you talk to me and awkwardly try to tell me something about yourself like your old crush on Lara. I was so... happy." She smiles a bit, but it was gone as fast as it came. " But I also keep hurting whenever I look at you. I cried myself awake dreaming of you saying you never wanted to see me again. I hate it. I hate feeling like this–" she gestures vaguely to herself with a frustrated sigh

"And you just keep reminding me of the happy-go-lucky cousin that I did everything with, but I know now." Lani let out a chuckle that lacked mirth. 

"I know now that he grew up and he's never coming back. You care about your friends more than us. Although, I somewhat don't blame you on that." She shook her head "I don't like your attitude towards our family. I'd never treat them like you do–unless I didn't realize it–but I can get being closer to your friends, even though I'm not that close to any of mine. We're both only children, no siblings whatsoever, and we're almost always surrounded by people two or three times our age. We don't really share common interests. They don't "get" us. It's tiring. At least, that would be my reason."

"I'm not you though. (I don't know how you'd react to what I'm saying. This is just a self indulgent day dream of what I wish would happen. ) I don't know how you think. I don't know your reasons."

(I don't know you.)  
"I don't know you."

Lani inhales one more time and breathes a sigh of relief. Years of emotional baggage finally relieved. She leans back in her chair and closes her eyes.

Meanwhile Lucas has been staring at her–for a while now– a frown on his face and a compilative gaze.

"I want to though." she pipes up suddenly.

"I want to get to know you. I want to be friends instead of awkward strangers that share blood."

She opens her eyes and turns to him. For once, their eyes meet. Twin pairs of chocolate brown, one pair slightly red and puffy.

"Can we do that?" Lani's voice cracked.

Lucas opens his mouth to answer–

"Mr. Allen, Miss Gonzales, please come in." The principal called.

Lani wipes her face with her sleeve and pops up on her feet with energy that wasn't there when she was pouring her heart out moments before.

"Come on, Lucky!!! The Boss man is calling for us!!" She chirps sharply, with a bright smile, reaching over and tugging his jacket sleeve like nothing is wrong with the world.

But her eyes speak volumes. There's lingering pain and frustration that show. Her eyes and nose are still puffy and red.

Finally, after more tugs, Lucas stands up and mutters "....Ok"

His cousin smiles a little more genuinely but then the other obnoxious grin was back "Time to see what the consequences of our actions will be!" She cheered "It's gonna suck." She burst into giggles as she normally does to calm herself in stressful situations.

She tightens her grip on the sleeve and drags her dear cousin behind her, with a skip in her step and some hope for the future.

Lucas only rolls his eyes and yanks his sleeve away with an exasperated eye roll.

~~~~

They leave the office, suspended for 3 weeks. Which Lani never understood, how was no school a punishment?

Bruce, her best friend Darling and their new friends that got sucked into this whole supernatural mess, Danny and Faye, are waiting for them outside. At the sight of them Lani bursts into a sprint to greet the two girls with a hug, Lucas walks up to them calmly and gives Danny a fist bump.

Lani gives Bruce a hug too, and a status report. She doesn't have any broken bones this time which she considers as a win. Bruce shoots her a look. 

She said that out loud didn't she?

"Yes, you did. You natural disaster." Faye giggles 

"I resent that nickname. Don't call me that. There's nothing natural about me, except maybe gender, and hair and–"

Lucas pinches the bridge of his nose "Just–just stop."

Lani nods "Yeah, I'm going no where with this. So where to now? What next? Do we have another monster to fight? Guard another Keeper?"

"Please no."

"I don't think my everything can take much more of this."

"I'm not stepping foot in a Keeper's realm for at least a month"

"Home." Bruce says "You all have accomplished a lot this past week. I think now is a time for a break"

The five simultaneously give out a sigh of relief.

The man brings out a seeminy looking house key and inserts it midair where the narrow part disappears in violet light. The teens watch enraptured as he twists it to the side like any normal key and a familiar looking door appears, opening with ease.

Lucas blinks "That's the door to my house."

Bruce and Lani share a smirk "Indeed it is. Come on everyone. Inside."

Lani is first, skipping into the doorway and taking off her shoes once she was inside. Then Darling followed, then Dan, then Faye.

Lucas is last to step forward, but Bruce stops him with a hand on his shoulder.

"She would have failed if she let your words get to her, you know"

Lucas swallows, looking ahead "I know."

"Fortunately, she's quick to forgive at the slightest hint of an apology. Or she's just really good at supressing her feelings. Maybe a bit of both." He gives him a pointed look.

Lucas nods.

"You're cousin is an extraordinary girl with a lot on her shoulders. She's gonna need all the support she can get for what's to come. I hope you'll be included in that support." Bruce pats his shoulder and removes his hand.

Lucas lets loose a breath he didn't know he was holding. 

And barely above a whisper he murmurs "Me too."

If Bruce heard, he didn't show. Instead he closes the door, takes the key out of the lock and lets the door disappear.

"Good luck, kids. You're gonna need it."

~~~~~~~

Later that night when everyone else was in their rooms. Lucas was making food for himself and Lani was reading one of her books he awkwardly brings up how "cool" it was when she glowed and turned into some supernatural thing and teared that pig beast apart with her bare hands and nails, complaining that they're too long.

"They're practically talons! You need to cut them."

Lani giggles "Nah."

"Come on. I still have crescent marks from where you grabbed me from nearly falling off that cliff. I have eczema. My skin is sensitive."

"Alright fine, maybe next week."

"Lani..."

"Kidding!! I'll cut them in the morning, but you know I hate them short."

"Thanks..."

And then Lani loudly praises him for breaking a frickin metal baseball bat over that demon snake lady's heads.

"You were so. Frickin. Cool! She never saw it coming!! How'd you dust her in just one hit!? I swear their skulls are made of–I don't know, something like Captain America's shield?"

Lucas snorts "I wasn't on the baseball team for nothing, dork"

"You have no room to talk Mr. I–still–have–Spiderman–boxers. You're such a ham."

"Who even says that anymore, brat?"

"Shut you're face you six piece chicken mcnobody"

"What the f–"

"Language!!"

"Oh not you too."

The two share a rare normal conversation with each other without much awkwardness. Fanning over how exhilarating that battle was. How thrilling the adrenaline rush felt and chatting until some ungodly hour in the morning.

And then Lucas blushes and diverts his eyes when Lani claims it's time for bed, because family isn't really his thing these days. And he doesn't chat with them for hours just for fun. Nevertheless, he bids his cousin goodnight, his voice high and cracking which causes Lani to laugh.

As she lays under the covers, Lani can't stop grinning, squealing quietly under her blankets. 

They're not what they used to be.

They aren't like siblings anymore.

They aren't that close with each other.

They're not even really friends. 

But it's a start.


End file.
